Medical devices such as endoscopes and other similar medical instruments may be used for diagnostic and therapeutic applications within the body of a patient. While some of these instruments are disposable instruments that are discarded after a single use, others may be reusable. These reusable instruments have to be sterilized between uses to prevent cross contamination between patients. To reduce issues associated with sterilization and contamination, some of these reusable devices may be covered with sterile disposable sheaths during use. Such sheaths may be elongated, tubular components having a lumen for the insertion of the reusable medical device. During use, the sheath may isolate the reusable instrument from body tissue. After use, the disposable sheath is removed from the instrument and discarded. Since the reusable instruments themselves are not in contact with body tissue, the likelihood of contamination is minimized.
In some cases, it may be desirable to direct multiple medical instruments into the body to assist in a medical application. Some of these instruments may be disposable while others may be fully or partially reusable. Introducing these multiple instruments into the body individually may be inefficient and may also increase patient discomfort and trauma. To minimize patient discomfort and improve the efficacy of the medical procedure, it may be advantageous to direct these multiple instruments into the body through the same extendible disposable sheath. In these cases, it may be desirable to isolate the reusable instruments from the disposable instruments to minimize contamination. Embodiments of the current disclosure are directed to extendible flexible sheaths that enable multiple medical instruments to be used alongside each other within the body.